A Purple Heart at last

Last month, I was told by the sister of Merle Dentino, the man I wrote about in May 2012, that her brother will finally be awarded the Purple Heart, more than 40 years after his death in Vietnam. Family and friends worked to honor Merle who was killed by friendly fire and was able to convince the Army he should receive the Purple Heart. Until recently, you couldn’t get one for friendly fire.

Merle Dentino (left) is pictured with his friend, Rand “Al” Wall in Vietnam in 1970. Dentino died in a friendly-fire mortar attack and was denied a Purple Heart until this year when the Army reconsidered given new information from soldiers and family members

The story is amazing. Go back and read it at the link but that’s only half the story. It took until this coming Monday for Dentino’s family to actually get the medal in their hands. There is going to be a ceremony in California where family members will be presented the medal. And on Veterans’ Day no less. Fitting.

I’ll post the entire story at the bottom of this blog post. Anyway, it’s good read and it shows the ongoing need to remember our fallen and to honor those who are still living. Have a good Veterans Day. Remember our guys and gals in uniform. Say thanks, and have a good time. Enjoy the parade and even grill out if it is not too cold. That’s what our guys and gals gave us to us — freedom. The least we can do is be appreciative, say thanks and enjoy it.

Author: Andy Kravetz

Andy Kravetz has spent most of the past 16 years covering the area's legal system as well as the military. in that time, he's crawled in the mud, flown in transport planes, and written about a man prosecuted for terrorism. This blog will reflect all those interests and then some.
View all posts by Andy Kravetz

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After 42 years, Sgt. Merle Dentino, a Peoria man killed in Vietnam, has received what many in the military regard as one of the highest honors – a Purple Heart.

It took letters from former commanders, battle buddies, the intervention of a U.S. congressman and, most importantly, the dogged determination of a Springfield woman who wanted her cousin’s memory honored.

“The U.S. government is doing right by him to correct this which had fallen through the cracks at the time. It’s an honor that he is receiving (the Purple Heart),” said Mary Mucciante, one of Merle’s first cousins, “It’s just unfortunate that his parents or his older brother aren’t alive to see or hear about this Purple Heart being awarded to him.”

On June 30, 1970, Dentino, then 21, was serving with the Company C, 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, which had just returned from spending several weeks in Cambodia.

His former company commander, Michael Christy, remembered that enemy troops were reported near the unit’s camp, which was right on the Cambodian border.

“They had been seen the day before, not too far from us. The question was, are they preparing to attack or are they going back into Cambodia?” Christy said.

About 1 a.m., mortar rounds from a nearby U.S. fire base began to rain on the camp. Whether it was faulty rounds or bad information, Charlie Company was being shelled by their own side.

The 1968 Spalding High School graduate was killed instantly by a piece of shrapnel in the attack. In all, two were killed and 29 wounded in the friendly fire incident. The death hit Christy hard.

“Merle was my RTO (radio telephone operator), and was always within an arm’s stretch of me. I would be where the action was and Merle was right in my hip pocket,” said Christy, who retired in the 1980s as a lieutenant colonel. “He was a brave person, a dedicated person, and believed in doing what he was asked to do.

“I know he was uncomfortable at different times when we were being fired upon, but he did his duty. I really liked him. Three or four people that I knew in my command group I knew very well, and he was principal among them.”

He was promoted posthumously to sergeant and had already received several medals for his service in Vietnam, including a Bronze Star with Valor, but no Purple Heart, the medal given to troops wounded in combat.

“Friendly fire doesn’t qualify for the Purple Heart,” said Robert Cowles, the past commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart chapter in Springfield and himself a Vietnam veteran.

For years, the issue was seemingly done.

But recently, Mucciante took up the cause. She previously had done the same with former U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood to get some medals and awards for her father, who fought in World War II, and now she wanted to do right by her cousin.

“I was at his funeral. That’s something you don’t forget, a military funeral. And I remember what the priest said at his funeral. He said: ‘His role in life was to serve his country. He died for it so we could be free,'” she said. “People who serve for our country and our freedom, they deserve to receive a medal such as this.”

And so she and Cowles combed the Internet for clues. By viewing comments on a Memorial website, Cowles was able to track down Christy and other members of Merle’s unit. They told him the key factor that loosened the knot – the mortar fire was directed at what the troops thought was the enemy.

“Regulations do state that if the friendly fire was directed at the enemy, then the friendly fire does qualify for the Purple Heart,” Cowles said.

Armed with that and statements from Christy and others, Mucciante went to U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock’s office. He then made a formal request with the Army. Mucciante had done that but didn’t get far. Schock’s office took up the cause and within a year, the medal was approved.

“When his story was brought to my attention, the very least we could do was to help his family make the case for why he was deserving of being awarded the Purple Heart posthumously,” Schock said on Friday. “The recognition of receiving the Purple Heart decades after his death is a way for us to pay tribute to his sacrifice and the sacrifices his family has endured as well.

“It’s rewarding for my office to have played a role in helping Mr. Dentino and his family receive the acknowledgement they have been waiting decades to receive.”

His former commanding officer was more blunt.

“It’s about time,” Christy said recently. “It’s an important medal and says I have been where the action was and I got wounded. It is important. Those who are eligible for it, should have it.”

His younger sister, Teresa Dentino, who lives in Woodside, Calif., south of San Francisco, said she hasn’t received the Purple Heart yet, but expects it within a month or so. Merle, she said, was her hero, even before he joined the Army.

Merle, she said, was a good athlete and someone who quietly helped people. It was that character trait that caused him to be there that night.

“He didn’t need to be there,” she said. In fact, he had been on leave and chose to return to his unit early because “of his strong sense of brotherhood.”

“He asked for special permission to bunk with his buddies, and that’s the only reason he was sleeping there that night. And of course, the next morning was the firestorm,” Teresa Dentino said.

Merle would have been 63 this year.

For Donald Mucciante, another of Merle’s cousins, the quest for the Purple Heart has stirred memories.

“He was a very fine young man,” he said. “It’s a shame his life was cut short. He would have made quite something of himself. He was a gentle man.”

Andy Kravetz can be reached at 686-3283 or akravetz@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @andykravetz or read more at his military blog, inFormation, at pjstar.com.